Biography 39 



for insects— almost any kind of crawling or flying insects tliat they 

 could catch; scratching a little in the leaf litter on the ground, pick- 

 ing them off the lowgrowing vegetation, or jumping for them in the 

 air. Eating insects was mainly a question of taking those kinds that 

 were most available and easiest to catch— flies, ants, beetles and 

 many other insects and related forms. Only a few species, such as 

 some lightning bugs ( Lampijridae ) and lady bird beetles ( Coccinel- 

 lidae), are definitely avoided by some birds, apparently due to their 

 offensive taste. While insects and other arthropods constitute almost 

 the entire food of the chicks for a period after hatching, they soon 

 learn to add a little fruit to their diet. A few strawberries and similar 

 early season, soft-bodied fruits are eaten almost from the start. 



After the morning meal was over the brood hovered for a short 

 time before setting forth again. Straying chicks would call a plaintive 

 "tsee-tsee-tsee-eee" in a rising pitch (Sawyer, 1923). More practice 

 in discipline was then in order, particularly in responding to warning 

 calls of danger, for all giouse soon have to learn ever to be on the 

 alert for the many forms of sudden death that may strike at any time. 

 They quickly learn to scatter and "freeze" among the dead leaves 

 at the first warning signal. 



It was not long before they had their first opportunity to test their 

 skill in dead earnest. The alert mother spied a shadow darting 

 through the trees in their direction. A quiet, stern "freeze" signal, a 

 sort of low "pe-e-e-e-e-u-u-r-r-r" (Sawyer, 1923) was quickly given 

 and the whole family squatted motionless instantly. It was too late. 

 The female sharp-shin had spotted some movement and she plied 

 her speed and dove earthward in what seemed to be a suicide plunge. 

 As soon as the grouse mother realized that the attack was on she 

 gave the violent scatter call, and herself flushed in a broken-wing 

 act in an attempt to draw the accipiter from her young ones. But the 

 hawk had concentrated its whole attention on the one chick whose 

 movement it had first seen and the kill was made with little trouble. 

 During the excitement the others had made good their escape and 

 were perfectly concealed in the ground litter in a space about thirty 

 feet across while the mother hung near by continuing her keep 

 quiet instructions wdth mewing squeals and sharp "quit-quit" clucks. 

 By this time the hawk had carried its prey to its habitual butchering 

 log where it picked the little grouse before taking it to its young in 

 their nest high in a near-by hemlock. 



